Reflections on Water

September 19th, 2015 – December 4th, 2016

Palm Springs Art Museum, Denney Western American Art Wing

“What makes the desert beautiful is that somewhere it hides a well.” -- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Water defines human experience. The average person is composed of approximately 60% water. It nourishes life as the body’s most necessary substance. This elementary liquid is essential for sustaining all life on the planet. As a result, the politics of water are woven into the fabric of social and economic institutions at both the regional and global level. Disputes over its distribution are at the center of struggles among interests competing for natural resources. Especially in the desert, where it is scarce, water is even more vital for survival than in places where it exists in abundance. Its very lack defines the desert, and yet even that ecological system could not exist without it.

“What makes the desert beautiful is that somewhere it hides a well.” -- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Water defines human experience. The average person is composed of approximately 60% water. It nourishes life as the body’s most necessary substance. This elementary liquid is essential for sustaining all life on the planet. As a result, the politics of water are woven into the fabric of social and economic institutions at both the regional and global level. Disputes over its distribution are at the center of struggles among interests competing for natural resources. In the desert, water is even more vital for survival than in places where it exists in abundance. Its very lack defines the desert, and yet even that ecological system could not exist without it.

Water has become the most visible sign of the negative impact that human progress has created on the environment. However, it is equally the source of pleasure and play, natural wonder, and cultural symbolism. Rather than presenting artworks according to standard classifications based in media, history, or culture, this gallery presents numerous contexts that find a shared nexus through the multiple uses of water. This installation invites visitors to consider how their experiences with water connect them to this complex network of ideas, values, and emotions.

This exhibition is organized by Palm Springs Art Museum.

Water as Substance

Water defines boundaries, marking divisions in the landscape and encouraging a sense of place. It serves both a narrative and a poetic function in art. In depictions of the American West, the story of migrations, displacements, and settlements often involve water. Scenes featuring water often create the visual vocabulary of beauty and the sublime, of meditation and contemplation, of nature and culture. Artists have long recognized the metaphoric potential of its fluid and transparent character. Rain is an especially potent condition as a visual lens that lends atmospheric effects to a scene and signals the role of perception by diffusing light.

Water as Symbol

Water plays more than a literal role in human lives. It is embedded in our conscious and unconscious imaginations as a symbol of our deepest hopes, dreams, and desires. Spiritual traditions rely on water rituals for healing and purification. Recognizing the spiritual associations of water, native populations identified rivers, lakes, and streams as the abode of sacred beings. In traditional worldviews, water is one of the four basic elements along with air, earth, and fire. Within those cosmologies, it represents flowing movement and is associated with purity, healing, and cleansing. Its surface can be both calm and turbulent, a paradoxical image that suggests reflection and renewal but also violence and destruction.

Palm Springs Art Museum is the largest cultural institution in the Coachella Valley and includes three locations in Palm Springs and Palm Desert. The flagship building is located in downtown Palm Springs and features compelling art exhibitions, a vast permanent collection, and the 433-seat Annenberg Theater, all in a 150,000 square foot, architecturally-significant building. Palm Springs Art Museum Architecture and Design Center, Edwards Harris Pavilion features exhibitions and programming that explore the rich topics of architecture and design.Palm Springs Art Museum in Palm Desert is an 8,400 square foot, Silver LEED-certified building named The Galen that presents rotating exhibitions and special collections. It is surrounded by the four-acre Faye Sarkowsky Sculpture Garden featuring important sculpture works. Admission to the Palm Desert location is free to the public, generously underwritten by Helene V. Galen. Palm Springs Art Museum has free admission the second Sunday of each month, it is also has free admission every Thursday evening from 4-8 p.m., thanks to the City of Palm Springs. The A+D Center has extended hours every Thursday evening until 8 p.m., also thanks to the City of Palm Springs.